Puss in Boots
by YaoiKitten
Summary: Ritsuka's class performs the play Puss in Boots.


**Puss in Boots**

By YaoiKitten

Soubi took a long drag from his cigarette before rubbing it out against the hand-painted sign that read "Puss in Boots Today at 7:00PM." He was standing in front of the school and watched the parents file through the gates. He checked his watch and it was already seven, but Ritsuka's parents still had not arrived. He sighed and looked up at the auditorium where the lights were just beginning to dim. The boy had told him not to show up for the performance, but Soubi felt he was able to choose what orders he would obey. He followed another couple across the lawn and entered the back entrance to the auditorium.

A helpful eighth-grade girl handed him a playbill and showed him to a seat in the middle row about halfway back from the stage. Proud parents jostled and readied their cameras in the dark, anxiously waiting the show to begin. Soubi crossed his arms and slid down in his seat, his eyes closed against the noise.

Silence blanketed the auditorium once the curtain rose and a single spotlight shone down on Shinonome-sensei who stood to the far left of the stage. She read from a script into a microphone.

"Once upon a time there was a miller who died and left his three sons all he had—a mill, a donkey, and a cat. The youngest son, much to his disappointment, received the cat," she began.

Another spotlight shone down on another boy Soubi did not recognize, dressed in the costume of a peasant with simple jerkin, tights, and boots. He was wearing a simple hat to cover his ears and his tail was tucked down his pant leg. "What shall I do?" he asked the crowd. "My brothers can make a living with the mill and the donkey, but all I have is this ol' cat! After I eat it and use its skin for a muff, I will shrivel up and die without a livelihood!"

Footsteps signaled an entrance stage right and Soubi raised his eyebrows. Ritsuka walked out in a simple black bodysuit that accentuated his black ears and tail. He knelt in front of the boy and said "Do not worry, my good master. If you give me a bag and a pair of boots to wear, so that I can scamper through the brambles, then you will see that you are not so bad off with me!"

The boy brought his hand to his chin while Shinonome-sensei narrated. "The miller's son did not have total faith in the cat, but he had seen him cleverly trap and kill mice. The boy gave the cat the boots and bag that he had asked for and saw the cat off."

The boy handed Ritsuka a pair of green boots and a messenger bag, which Ritsuka immediately put on. The boy turned to walk away and the stage was illuminated to reveal a painted background of a blue sky, a field, and a river.

"The cat was very clever," Shinonome-sensei said. "He went to a field where a lot of rabbits were, filled his bag with barley and carrots, and lay down to see what naïve little rabbit would venture into his pouch."

Soubi smiled as Ritsuka spread out of the stage, folding his hands over his chest and pretending to sleep while a student dressed in black from head to toe appeared with a rabbit cut out of paper. The rabbit scampered across the stage and into Ritsuka's bag, at which point Ritsuka sprang up and grabbed the bag.

"Proud of his catch," Shinonome-sensei continued, "The cat presented it to the King."

A wooden and paper-mached throne was rolled out from stage right and Soubi recognized Yayoi sitting upon it in a purple cape and gold crown that hid his ears. Ritsuka approached the throne and offered the rabbit to the King. "I have brought you a rabbit from my master, the Lord Marquis of Carabas."

"Tell your master that I thank him," Yayoi said, taking the paper rabbit from Ritsuka's outstretched hands. "I am very pleased with his gift."

The throne was rolled off stage while Shinonome-sensei continued. "The cat was very clever, and soon he presented two partridges to the King. After two months he had brought the King many gifts, all in the name of the Marquis of Carabas--the name he had chosen for his master.

"On a day the cat knew the King would be strolling along the river with his beautiful daughter, the Princess, he approached his master."

The boy from before came out onto stage and Ritsuka approached him. "If you follow my orders, your fortune is made," Ritsuka said. "All you have to do is go and bathe in the river where I tell you to and leave the rest to me."

The boy walked to the back of the stage where the river was painted and stepped behind a green wooden bush that had been sitting near the back of the stage. Soubi covered his mouth with his hand when the boy stripped off his shirt and laid it over the wooden bush, trying to stifle a giggle.

Yayaoi entered from the other side, and Soubi recognized Yuiko dressed in a royal purple gown with a circlet and her hair piled atop her head to cover her ears. Her tail must have hid in the folds of her skirt.

Ritsuka moved across the stage and quickly grabbed his master's shirt from the bush and theatrically tossed it behind the curtains. He approached the couple strolling across the stage and pointed toward the river painted in the backdrop. "Help, help! My master, the Marquis of Carabas is going to drown!"

"Ah, the cat who always brought me such good game," Yayaoi said. He snapped his fingers and several 'guardsmen' with fake swords and shields rushed out from the eaves, their ears and tails concealed. "Help the Marquis of Carabas who has offered me such fine tributes!"

"While my master was bathing," Ritsuka continued, motioning to the river with excitement, "a band of thieves came and stole my good Lord's clothes! We yelled at them, but they ran away and no one was around to help us stop them!"

"Fetch one of my best suits for the good Marquis!" Yayoi ordered one of the soldiers. Pandemonium broke out on stage as several guardsmen left on both sides and several of them retreated behind the bush to hide, appearing as if they went to save the drowning marquis. Soubi laughed to himself when he realized someone's foot was sticking out from the side of the bush.

A single soldier returned with neatly folded clothes in his arms and he disappeared behind the bush, after which the miller's son appeared a second later dressed in the King's finest.

"It is so nice to finally meet you!" The King greeted the fake Marquis. "I am sorry to hear of your bad luck today, but won't you join my daughter and me on our walk?"

The miller's son, now the Marquis of Carabas, looked appropriately bewildered and confused. He fell into step beside the King and acted surprised when the Princess wound her arm through his. The three of them left the stage while Ritsuka looked on.

"The cat was very pleased that his plan was going accordingly," Shinonome-sensei said into the microphone. "He ran ahead and met some men mowing a meadow, and some reapers gathering grain. He told them the same thing 'If anyone asks you, the land you are working on belongs to the Marquis of Carabas. If you say any different, the King's men will cut you into pieces!"

Ritsuka left and several students clustered in two groups on stage, dressed as peasants with scythes and hand-cutters made out of Popsicle sticks. Yuiko, Yayaoi, and the Marquis entered from the left and walked across the stage, stopping at each group to ask "Whose field is this in which you are toiling so hard?"

"The Marquis of Carabas!" both groups of men replied in succession, and once satisfied the group of three exited the stage.

"The King was impressed by the Marquis of Carabas' estate," Shinonome-sensei narrated, "but the cat was not done yet. He came to a rich ogre's huge castle at the end of the fields and asked to see the ogre. All the fields the King had walked through belonged to the ogre."

Ritsuka entered again and Soubi smiled when he saw the big, wooden, painted ogre rolled out onto stage. Ritsuka looked tiny in comparison as he looked up at the stupid wooden grin.

"I could not pass by your lovely castle without paying my respects," Ritsuka told the wooden giant. "I have heard that you can change yourself into any creature you like, say, a lion?"

A voice off stage grumbled a hearty laugh. "Of course," it said.

The wooden ogre was rolled off stage by a student in all black and was replaced by a flat wooden lion. Ritsuka acted appropriately shocked and frightened by the big lion.

"I have also been told," Ritsuka said, still looking afraid and keeping his distance from the big lion, "that you can also turn yourself into smaller creatures, like a mouse. I can't believe that though"

The wooden lion laughed in the same deep voice, probably a male teacher Soubi thought, and said "Of course I can! I will show you."

The wooden lion was rolled off the stage and soon a tiny wooden mouse was pushed out, no bigger than Ritsuka's shoe. Ritsuka immediately pounced on the little toy, eliciting a smile from Soubi's lips.

"The cat ate the ogre right up," the narrator said, "and ordered the cooks of the castle to prepare a feast like never before. As the King, Princess, and Marquis approached the castle the King wanted to venture inside."

Yayoi, Yuiko, and the Marquis entered onto the stage again and stopped before an imaginary door. "I wonder who lives here…" said the King.

Ritsuka rushed to the other side of the stage and threw open the imaginary door. "I welcome you to the Marquis of Carabas' castle!" he said.

"Lord Marquis, this castle belongs to you!?" the King exclaimed. "Let us go inside."

A picnic table was rolled into stage piled high with plastic food. Ritsuka stood in the background, looking smug while the three took their seats.

"So impressed was the King," Shinonome-sensei said, "with the Marquis' land, castle, and exquisite food and drink, he soon offered his daughter in marriage after his fifth glass. The Princess had already fallen in love with the once-miller's son."

"My boy, you simply must become my son-in-law!"

Yuiko batted her eyelashes at the Marquis and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. Soubi thought Yayoi was going to blow a gasket on stage, but he managed to keep his cool.

"I would be honored my Lord," the boy said.

The curtain fell and Shinonome-sensei's voice could still be heard. "That day the miller's son, or should I say the Marquis of Carabas married the Princess and took possession of all of the ogre's land. The clever cat was awarded a Lordship and lived out his days hunting mice, but only for leisure since he was now rich as well.

"The End."

The parents and Soubi stood to their feet and clapped as the cast came out and took their final bow. Soubi couldn't stop smiling when he saw Ritsuka sheepishly ducking away from the praise and hurrying to get off the stage as fast as he could. The crowded auditorium dispersed and Soubi tried to decide where he should go. He hurried back stage to try to catch Ritsuka.

Most of the kids had gone out to meet their parents, but Ritsuka was tidying things up by hanging the costumes back on the rack. Several students gathered their things and milled about. Ritsuka stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Soubi standing backstage.

"Did my parents come?" he asked, a deep blush spread across his face. He wouldn't look at Soubi.

He didn't answer him.

"I told you not to come."

"I wanted to come. You were so cute up there."

Risuka turned his back to him, and it didn't take much for Soubi to realize the boy was crying. "I knew they wouldn't come," Ritsuka choked out.

Soubi came and wrapped his arms around the boy. The backstage had cleared out by now, and he cuddled the boy against his chest. "I know," Soubi said. "I know."

Soubi tilted Ritsuka's face toward him, shining with tears in the stage lighting. Ritsuka wiped at his nose with the back of his hand and Soubi couldn't help but love him. He placed his hands on the boy's cheeks and bent down for a deep kiss.

Ritsuka melted into it, too emotionally exhausted to fight it. Soubi whispered soothing words into his ear and held him until he stopped crying. Deep down he was glad that Ritsuka's parents had not come, because then he would have missed the performance and another chance to endear himself to Ritsuka all the more.

"Walk me home?" Ritsuka asked feebly. He pulled away from Soubi and picked up his school bag.

"Of course," Soubi said. "And maybe we can get something to eat along the way."

Ritsuka's eyes slid to the side. "I like what you make better. Maybe we should just go to your place then."

Soubi smiled innocently. "Whatever Ritsuka wants. I exist to please you," he teased.


End file.
